Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Meanwhile, in Virginia...

An amendment has been introduced in the Virginia state legislature to ban insurers from requiring their customers:

"...to have an identification/tracking device or mark implanted or permanently or semi-permanently incorporated into the body, skin, teeth, hair, or nails of such person to track, or to aid in tracking such person."

Violations would be subject to a fine of $500, payable to that state's Literary Fund.

For the record, we here in Washington are unaware of any insurer planning to implant anything in your hair, fingernails, or anywhere else. The closest thing we've seen is a proposal from some auto insurers to allow their customers to voluntarily have devices installed in their cars to monitor how they drive (jackrabbit starts, speeding, etc.), for the purpose of giving good drivers a discount.